HE TOWN Planning Department has granted permission for a “huge” new church next to 500-year-old Ayia Paraskevi Church in Strovolos (Nicosia), despite objections by Strovolos Municipality and local residents.
In a press statement, the Cyprus Social Ecology Movement slammed the proposed building of a “huge luxury church in the yard of the historic church of Ayia Paraskevi in Nicosia, despite strong reaction by the public as well as officials of the state and local authority.” The group criticised the Orthodox Church leadership for its “unacceptable and continuous plans” to build huge churches in the historic centre of Nicosia, the main public park in Paphos, and now a new church “that will overwhelm the Ayia Paraskevi Church in Nicosia”.
The Archbishopric’s plan to build a vast new cathedral in Nicosia old town has provoked strong criticism in terms of its impact on the area in visual and other terms. The Archbishop’s office is said to be lobbying hard to win the approval of Nicosia municipal councillors. In July 2009, Paphos Bishop Georgios announced his plans for a 20-metre tall cathedral in Paphos, but the local council voted it down overwhelmingly earlier this week, as part of the town planning consultation process. Ayia Paraskevi is one of the oldest churches in Nicosia, built some 500 years ago, and is tucked into the corner of a sizeable plot of land next to the Central Bank building and overlooked by the large head offices of the Bank of Cyprus. A photo of is featured in the European Commission’s online photo archive for Cyprus, designed to illustrate the cultural aspect of EU enlargement.
Town Planning Dept Head Christos Ktorides told the Mail yesterday that “an application for planning permission was made some time ago, and I believe it was granted recently.” Ktorides confirmed that the intention is to build a large new church next to the existing 500-year-old building, and “a consultation was carried out regarding the environmental impact on the immediate surroundings and area.” He firmly denied the suggestion that the new structure will tower over the old church, saying that there will be “a fair distance” between them. “Care was taken to maintain sufficient space around the old church and ensure it is not dominated by the new structure.
There will be a courtyard around the existing church – in no way will it be affected”, he said. Ktorides added: “The 12-floor apartment blocks across the road and the Central Bank building right next to it pose more questions in terms of size and dominance of the surroundings.” Strovolos Municipality Mayor Savvas Iliofotou explained to the Mail that two permits are needed for the new church to be built: planning permission, granted by the Town Planning Department, and a building permit, issued by the local authority. “When we were consulted by the Town Planning Dept as part of the normal process after they received the planning application from the Church, our response was negative”, Iliofotou said. He added: “According to what I have heard – we have not yet seen anything in writing – the Town Planning Dept has granted planning permission for the new church.
So now, we are obliged to issue a building permit, as the law says that once planning permission has been granted, we no longer have the right to withhold building permission except in cases of blatant violation of planning regulations.” In terms of when work on the new church might actually start, Iliofotou said that it normally takes “a minimum of three months” for a building permit to be issued once the application has been made officially.
(By Charles Charalambous - Cyprus Mail)
No comments:
Post a Comment